LPGA Q-School Hit By Late Postponement Due To 'Unplayable' Courses

The second stage of the LPGA Tour's Q-School was postponed on Sunday due to 'unplayable courses', less than two days before the event was due to begin.

Both courses at Plantation Golf & Country Club in Venice, Florida were set to be used by more than 200 competitors between October 13th and 17th but have been hit by heavy rain in the immediate build-up and over the past few months.

Per a report by Golfweek's Beth Ann Nichols, the golf club has received seven inches of rainfall in recent days while the wider area has seen more than 50 inches of rain since June.

As a result of "washed-out bunkers, standing water in the fairways and unpassable cart paths", the LPGA Tour made the decision to call off this key event after most of the field had arrived on site.

Ryan French of Monday Q Info also reported that one of the two courses at Plantation G&CC had seen wide-scale green renovations since June which have led to knock-on issues.

French reported the course is still not open to its own members at this stage due to a combination of the rain and said ground work, with the very first rounds on the new-look layout planned to be completed by Q-School players this week.

In addition, the reporter shared an email was sent around to entrants warning them of several areas which would be marked GUR, though he was told conditions had "improved greatly over the last few weeks."

To add insult to injury in what is already a tough situation, several players opted to miss out on competing in the Aramco Korea Championship on the Ladies European Tour - a $2 million event which finished last weekend - in order to adequately prepare.

Once the decision was made, a notice from the Epson Tour's chief business and operations officer Jody Brothers was sent out to each entrant on Sunday.

Shared by Golfweek, it read: "We've worked through every scenario with the superintendent and the maintenance team, including the rain dates built into this week's schedule.

"However, the golf courses are unplayable due to washed bunkers, standing water in the fairways, and unpassable cart paths.

"To confidently move forward with play under fair conditions, moving to Nov. 1-6 gives the staff the time they need to prepare the courses to the standard this competition deserves."

The late cancellation understandably caused plenty of frustration among those signed up as they lost out on potential earnings elsewhere as well as suffering the cost of booking travel, accommodation and other necessities - money which is unlikely to be insignificant to those hoping to fulfil their dreams.

However, as a show of good will, the LPGA Tour reportedly sent an email to the players informing them they would each receive $1,000 off of their Q-Series entry fees.

Finances aside, the pushed-back date now means that for whoever progresses into the third stage, the final two hurdles of a particularly taxing process will be very close together.

The final stage of LPGA Tour Q-School has been held during December in previous years, but it's been moved up to November 19-23 in 2026 in a bid to avoid the bad weather which has affected the event in Mobile, Alabama historically.

Another key issue with the rearranged date is that it falls directly on the next $2 million tournament in the LET's schedule - the Aramco China Championship - so players will have another potentially career-defining decision to make.

Golf Monthly has contacted the LPGA Tour for comment.